- Whale wallet transfers 80,000 BTC, worth $9.4 billion, to Galaxy Digital.
- Bitcoin dropped to $116,218 amid $500 million in liquidations.
- Ethereum, XRP, and Solana also declined as sentiment turned bearish.
Bitcoin slipped below $117,000 early today, coinciding with a massive transfer of dormant coins. The movement traces back to a wallet from the ‘Satoshi era,’ raising eyebrows among market watchers.
Massive Transfer From Dormant Wallet
An unmarked Bitcoin wallet address, identified as “bc1qq…atjty,” transferred 80,009 BTC, worth approximately $9.46 billion, to institutional broker Galaxy Digital on Monday night. Lookonchain linked the wallet to a so-called “OG whale,” whose 80,009 BTC have been dormant for more than 14 years.
Related: Altcoin Season Index Holds at 32, Market Remains Firmly in “Bitcoin Season”
According to Lookonchain, the transfer occurred across seven separate transactions, starting at 9:34 p.m. and ending by 1:28 a.m. Tuesday. Transaction sizes ranged from 500 BTC to 4,500 BTC. The last transaction, which occurred an hour ago, resulted in $330.9 million worth of BTC being transferred from the wallet.
$406 Million in Longs Wiped Out
Galaxy Digital subsequently began depositing part (6000) of the BTC stash, roughly $706 million, into major exchanges such as Binance and Bybit. The timing of the transfer raised speculation that the whale may be preparing for a significant sale.
Shortly after the deposits began, Bitcoin’s price plunged to an intraday low of $116,218, down from highs of over $123,200 the previous day. As of this press time, Bitcoin is trading at $116,904, representing a 4.1% loss over the past day.
In addition to the whale activities, CoinGlass reported more than $500 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, including $406 million in long positions wiped out in just four hours. This move affected over 130,000 traders.
Macroeconomic and Technical Pressures
Bitcoin’s decline also coincided with broader market uncertainty. The release of key U.S. inflation data, Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI), coming today, added pressure to risk-on assets.
From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin had entered overbought territory, with indicators showing slowing bullish momentum. According to Santiment, investor sentiment had already begun to shift ahead of the whale’s move, with many traders taking profits and anticipating a pullback.
Related: Bitcoin Leads, But Altcoins Are Lining Up for a Breakout
Notably, Bitcoin’s drop triggered a broader decline across the crypto market. Ethereum (ETH) fell by 2.2% while XRP and BNB each declined nearly 3.8%. Meanwhile, Solana declined by 5.0% during the same period. The total crypto market cap has now fallen by 7.2%, marking the largest one-day drop in over three weeks.
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